Short stories about the lives of the residents of Camden Corners. A village in Upstate New York at the beginning of the 20th Century. You will meet old friends time and again and new friends and neighbors with each story. Share the many tales of love, romance, family and friends as well as a few mysteries thrown in for good measure.
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Sunday, January 8, 2012

The Pringles~Part 1

Christopher and
Priscilla Pringle were the proud owners of the Snowflake Christmas
Shop in Camden Corners . Snowflakes was a favorite of all the folks
in town and their many visitors from other villages in the area and
even as far away as Chicago and New York City.

Chris was a jolly
old guy with his white beard and round belly. Priscilla was a bit
round herself. She always wore a bright red apron with red and white
striped candy filling the pockets.

Whenever anyone
opened the door of the Snowflake Christmas Shop, they would hear the
sound of jingle bells and smell the aroma of fresh baked gingerbread
and sugar cookies. The Pringles knew how to keep the Christmas
spirit going all year long.

They were never
blessed with children of their own but they loved all the children in
town and the children all loved them. They had a dog who answered to
the name of Rudy. Rudy was a big old loveable dog who seemed
happiest when he was laying in front of the cozy fireplace in the
vestibule of the shop. Children would stop by on their way home from
school just to pet Rudy and accept one of his sloppy kisses. Mrs.
Pringle made sure each child in town had a special Christmas ornament
to display on their Christmas tree each year. She molded and painted
each and every ornament and made sure to personalize it with the
child's name.

It was one warm
summer day when she was relaxing on the shore of Lake Camden that she
happened to see a small silk pouch wash ashore. Curiosity overcame
her and she finally opened the pouch. There were a number of the
most beautiful stones she had ever seen. Some looked like diamonds
they were so sparkly and bright. Others were a deep red, some dark
green and a few a golden yellow and even some very pale blue.
Priscilla looked around and didn't see a soul. She took the sack back
to the apartment above the store where she and Chris lived.

Chris suggested she
put an ad in the local paper looking for the rightful owner. When no
one answered the ad, they stopped in to see Sheriff Mendenhall. The
Sheriff thought the stones were very pretty but couldn't imagine they
would be of any value and assured them they would not be committing
any crime if they just kept them.

Priscilla had not
begun her annual ornament making chore and thought the stones would
be a fine addition to the children's ornaments this year. She made
reindeer with lovely aqua blue eyes, Snowmen with emerald green eyes,
Santas with ruby red noses, train engines with topaz yellow smoke
billowing from their stacks and angels with sparkling diamonds in
their hair. She wrote a child's name on every ornament holding out
several for the many babies who were expected to arrive in Camden
Corners before Christmas that year. Priscilla would never want to
leave even the tiniest of them without an ornament.

Chris was walking
Rudy down by the dock near Flanagan's fish market on a quiet Sunday
afternoon. He spotted a stranger looking into the water near the
shore.

“Hello my good
fellow.” Isn't this the finest looking lake you have ever seen. We
townsfolk are very proud of our pristine waters here in Camden
Corners . Are you looking to do some fishing here?”

The gentlemen
barely looked up and mumbled something about just looking for
something he may have dropped in the water. Chris offered to help
him look for the object but the man declined and walked quickly away.

Ebeneezer Finch
climbed on his horse. He was in big trouble. All he did was stop
off at that pub called O'Sullivan's to wet his whistle a few weeks
ago. He was really thirsty and it was such a hot day it wasn't his
fault that he may have had one too many and dropped part of his loot
from that jewelry store heist in Greensboro. Why had it taken his
boss, Ronald Crump so long to discover part of the haul was missing?
He remembered taking those jewels out of his satchel and admiring
them as he was walking toward the lake. After all it was a very hot
day and who could blame Eb for taking a little dip in the lake.
Maybe he did fall asleep on the shore but he was very tired from the
long ride. Just thinking about that nice cold draft he had at the
pub made him thirsty. He should be looking for the gems but he was
awfully thirsty and Eb needed a break from his search. That first
cold beer went down so easily he found himself ordering a second,
then third and after that he lost track.